Jill Kelley leaves her home in Tampa on Nov. 13 driving a car with an honorary consul general license plate. / By Chris O'Meara, AP

by Drew Gingrich, USA TODAY

by Drew Gingrich, USA TODAY

Jill Kelley, the Tampa housewife and socialite at the center of the David Petraeus scandal, is an "honorary consul" for South Korea, a title she sports on the license plate of her Mercedes S500 sedan.

The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles issues special license plates to honorary consuls because they are considered diplomatic officials who are not eligible for "special Consul Corps license plates (issued) by the United States Government."

Honorary consuls are typically well-connected people who are appointed by foreign countries to represent their interests. The position is symbolic and comes with no official duties or responsibilities.

Foreignpolicy.com quoted an unnamed diplomat who said that although honorary consuls do not work as real consuls, Kelley represents South Korea in the Tampa area. According to the diplomat, Kelley helped get support for the South Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement and arranged meetings between the ROK Ambassador and Tampa businessmen.

Kelley assumed the position of honorary consul in August "thanks to her good connections and network," the diplomat said.

According to a South Korean diplomatic official in Atlanta who spoke to Korean news agency Yonhap, "the appointment of Kelley as honorary consul followed normal procedures," and there was no irregularity in appointing her to the post.

Despite the symbolic nature of her title, Kelley tried to invoke diplomatic protection in a 911 call to keep the media away from her home.

"You know, I don't know if by any chance, because I'm an honorary consul general, so I have inviolability, so they should not be able to cross my property. I don't know if you want to get diplomatic protection involved as well," Kelley told a 911 dispatcher.

Honorary consuls do not have the same rights as permanent diplomatic officials, and Kelley's home is not entitled to any specific protection.